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Joshua, Lawyer

Category: Law

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Experience: LL.B (Hons), Higher Prof. Dip. Law & Practice

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Why do we seem to have a no credit rating when we have

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why do we seem to have a no credit rating when we have banked with barclays bank since approx 1970 never had debt always paid accounts on or before time. We own out right our property and car pay direct debit for utilities. We have lived in Australia for 9 years arrived home in 2013 bought present house outright then went to Australia for a long holiday arrived home Oct 2016 when we decided to have a Conservatory added and because they had interest free offer we though go ahead and that was the first indication that we did not have a credit rating when they checked. How do we go about getting a credit rating without seemingly having to pay £15 per month for this facility.Many Thanks Maureen and ***** *****

Hello As far as the conservatory company was concerned they could not give us credit they thought it was because we had not been in the country for 3 years but it was Barclays who was the financier and our account was still with them and having more than sufficient in our account to pay outright for this did not seem to help. Today we are trying to change broadband company and they have just indicated that we have a problem with credit check and will get back to us in two days so we are getting concerned.

Thank you. There is actually no such thing as a credit rating as such. Rather each person has a "credit history" which is recorded with credit reference agencies of which there are three. There will be some commonality between the information held by credit reference agencies but it will not be identicaly because it will depend with which institutions each agency has relationships. If you have been out of the country for the last 6 years or more it may be that the agencies will have little or no information about you.

What companies do when they apply for a credit check is apply for information about you from the credit agencies - this will include accounts you hold including payment histories, any default notices, whether you are registered to vote and so on. They will feed this into their own private credit model which they use to determine the kind of applicant they are looking for for their product and make a decision. Different companies will look for different applicants. Most mainstream lenders will look for people who have a good history of repayments on time but some companies, e.g. conpanies that offer products for poor credit may actively want people with chequered histories sothey ca charge late payment fees. As a result this is why I say there is no such thing as a bad credit rating or no credit rating because each company sets their own way to score.

What is quite possible is that you are strugling to obtain credit because there is little information about any past credit for you. It could also be that there is some incorrect information recorded about you but that is hopefully unlikely.

The first step would be to apply for copies of your credit files. There are two services that you can use to gain access to your Callcredit and Equifax files for free. These are called "noddle" and "clearscore". There are no monthly charges for their free services and they will give you a monthly credit report for free. If you find there is little or no information about you this is likely your issue and you will need to consider building a credit profile for yourself.

You can start by ensuring you are registered to vote. Not being regitered is a big negative even if you otherwise have good credit. Next consider ensuring you have at least one bank account registered in your names and your address. Next consider applying for a credit product. If you have little or no credit history consider a credit card which offers for poorer credit scores. There is quite a useful tool you can consider using here to find cards that you are likely to be accepted for:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/

Use the card for some purchases for a few months and set up a direct debit to make the monthly repayments. The last thing you would want to do is have missed payments recorded on any fledgling credit report history. After a few months your credit file will build a history and you will increasingly have more normal access to credit. The above services use algorithms to generate a specimin credit score for you as part of their service. As above this is not your "credit rating" as this does not exist but it will show you how each agency considers your credit and you can see as it improves. Dye to the above, you will notice your score will almost certainly be different between the two services - this is as a result of the above, but it will still be a useful tool or guide for you to see how your credit profile is improving.

In terms of accessing essential services now, like broadband, many companies will offer you the products even with a lack of credit history but may ask you to pay a deposit for the account for say 6 or 12 months until you build up a better history. If the current broadband provider doesn't offer this there are many that do.

Does the above answer all your questions? If it does, I should be very grateful if you would kindly take a moment to click a rating for my service to you today. Your feedback is important to me. If there is anything else I can help with please reply back to me though

I'm just following up on our above conversation. I hope the above was of some assistance. Please let me know if you have any further queries. If you have a moment I should be very grateful if you would kindly take a moment to click a rating to rate my service or alternatively just provide some brief feedback so I know if I was able to help. I'd be most grateful. All the best

Just as a matter of interest we are registered to vote and have voted . We also have a Barclays Premier credit card and a Barclays debit card and have used extensively whilst living in Aus and travelling as well as in the UK and have had them since the 1970s We have not used the Premier card as a credit card, but paid off on a monthly basis. So much for loyalty!! Will take in what you have indicated. You have been helpful and we will try to make something of the info re the situation.Many thanks Maureen & ***** *****

That suggests that you should have a continuous credit profile for the entire period as Barclays will surely be reporting your payment history under the credit card. I wonder if Barclays have not linked your old address to your new address and therefore your credit profile has not been linked to your current address? You should be able to confirm once you gain access to your reports using the above services or other services as you prefer. If you are not seeing your Barclays credit card in your account information, then Barclays have something wrong on records and it is not linking to you properly. If this is the cae it can be resolved by contacting Barclays and asking them to ensure their records are up to date so they link them to your new address.

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